Walz makes first solo marketing campaign cease in speech to influential union

Vice President Kamala Harris’ operating mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his first solo marketing campaign cease in California, delivering a speech in entrance of one of many nation’s most distinguished unions.

“The vice president and I, we know exactly who built this country. It was nurses, it was teachers, and it was state and local government employees that built this nation. People in this room, built the middle class,” Walz stated in a speech in entrance of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of many nation’s strongest public sector unions.

The cease marked Walz’s first on his personal since being tapped to hitch Harris on the Democratic ticket, with the duo largely hitting the highway collectively for the reason that announcement final month.

Walz touted his pro-union credentials, recalling his time as a “due-paying” member of a trainer’s union and his report as governor that made it simpler for staff to collectively discount.

FORMER LEADER OF WALZ’S BATTALION PUBLISHES SCATHING MESSAGE AIMED AT GOVERNOR’S MILITARY CAREER: REPORT

“Here’s a fact they shared with me as I came here to make this opportunity to say thank you… I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan,” Walz stated. “But rest assured, I won’t lose my way.”

While a cease in deep-blue California may not be seen as an essential one on the path, AFSCME members from all around the nation had been there to satisfy and later hear from the nation’s potential future vice chairman.

The union, which in line with NPR boasts 1.5 million members of largely state and native authorities workers, represents a strong demographic for the Harris marketing campaign to aim to solidify help. 

Walz has introduced a Midwest and blue collar vibe to the marketing campaign, touting Harris’ working class credentials since becoming a member of the vice chairman on the path.

“It’s very simple – she stands on the side of the American people and the American worker,” Walz stated throughout a rally in Michigan final week.

While most unions have historically supported Democratic candidates, former President Donald Trump has tried to make inroads with the nation’s blue-collar staff and union members, most notably in Rust Belt swing states that may resolve the election.

The former president has continued to aim to make his case to the nation’s staff all through the marketing campaign, focusing on hospitality staff by promising to push by way of a invoice that might get rid of taxes on ideas.

WALZ ACCUSATIONS OF ‘STOLEN VALOR’ PROMPT BATTLE BETWEEN HOUSE VETERANS

Harris, in the meantime, tried to chase the identical voters by making the same vow final week, whereas the Harris-Walz ticket has earned the endorsement of the hospitality union UNITE HERE.

“It’s sad that union bosses continue to be puppets for the Democrat Party and are completely out of touch with the workers they are supposed to represent,” Trump marketing campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt advised Fox News Digital in response to that information.

The Trump marketing campaign’s try and attraction to working class voters was additionally evident within the former president’s collection of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as operating mate, who has made a broader pitch to Rust Belt staff to get behind the Republican ticket.

“In small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan, in states all across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war,” Vance stated in his speech on the Republican National Convention.

“To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and every corner of our nation, I promise you this,” he continued. “I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from.”

–

Meanwhile, cracks within the Democratic Party’s relationship with unions have began to seem, most notably when Teamsters President Sean O’Brien grew to become the primary chief of his group to talk on the Republican National Convention and provide uncommon openness to help for Republican candidates.

“We are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien stated. “We want to know one thing: What are you doing to help American workers?”

Nevertheless, Walz expressed optimism that American staff would in the end take his and Harris’ aspect in November. 

“The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to take advantage of them,” he stated, referring to Trump and Vance. “Every chance they’ve gotten, they’ve waged war on workers and their ability to collectively bargain, to take that away from them.”

Get the most recent updates from the 2024 marketing campaign path, unique interviews and extra at our Fox News Digital election hub.